As a transgender student and a GLSEN Student Ambassador, I am deeply hurt by the statements that you made. Your word choice was not only vulgar, but very offensive. You are dehumanizing transgender students and stripping the legitimacy of their perceptions of themselves.

Jeydon is, from the point of view of his family and his health provider, a young man. But the school has presented Jeydon with a Hobson's choice: If he agrees to dress as a woman, he will be untrue to himself and basically agree that there is something wrong with being who he is.

We need the full resources of every LGBT organization in the country. We need all our self-proclaimed allies to start speaking up, calling out those who deal in falsehoods and half-truths. We need to educate the public. I'm going to.

Dress codes facilitate abuse, first by enforcing the notion that there is a "right" and a "wrong" way to dress, and that transgressers can and should be punished, and secondly by normalizing the punishment. There is no legitimate reason for this.

The opposition is very confused about the differences between sex and gender, gender identity and sexual orientation. But the problem is more fundamental: Most Americans do not have a basic understanding of human biology and reflexively equate "biology" and "sex" with genitals.

LGBTQ youth experience relentless physical and verbal harassment, and now, with online bullying, there is no escape. It is 24/7. If LGBTQ youth aren't safe at home, and they aren't safe in their place of worship, shouldn't they be safe at school?

In the coming year, as A.B. 1266 goes into effect in California, be prepared to read a lot of stories like this: "Local Transgender Student Provokes Mixed Reactions," about the "controversy" surrounding news that a transgender student would begin attending school presenting as a girl.

California Gov. Jerry Brown recently signed legislation allowing transgender students in California to have access to the sports teams and facilities that correspond with their gender identity. This is a critically important move. Let me offer some insight from a trans woman's point of view.

About six months ago my 6-year-old, Joshua, asked, "Mom, what is 'transgender'?" I explained as best as I could, but I also said that it's a very complicated topic that sometimes even grownups struggle with. Joshua thought about it for a moment and then issued his surprising response.

By making sure that transgender students can be themselves at school, A.B. 1266 will enrich the diversity of California's schools and, ultimately, the lives of all our students. I know this firsthand.
The Los Angeles Unified School District has had a similar approach in place for almost a decade.

There are whys to transgender activism, but beyond the whys, there are the whats of transgender activism: the goals. Here are seven goals of trans activism, with some explanation as to why these are trans activism goals.

For my transgender child and thousands like him, the simple act of relieving themselves in a public restroom at their school is a source of stress, confusion, violence, endless meetings and even lawsuits, just because they identify with a gender that differs from their biology.

Last week, after five years of struggle, pain, hard work and hope, a Superior Court judge ruled that the Orono school system did not violate the Maine Human Rights Act when it prohibited my daughter Nicole from using the restroom that matches her gender identity.

Earlier this week the East Aurora School District passed a policy that would provide key supports to trans youth. Soon thereafter the Illinois Family Institute urged people to complain about the policy, and today the East Aurora school district might very well rescind that protective policy.

For the past few years we have had an increasing number of elementary schools contact us with reports that their teachers and school staff were "freaking out." The cause for alarm? The new enrollment of a transgender child or the gender transition of an already-enrolled student.

The reality is that while bullying, school environments, and related outcomes have a long way to go for lesbian, gay, and bisexual students, the distance is even further for transgender students. We need to be having a discussion about that.